(NEW YORK) — Blue Story director Rapman is opening up about the pressure he put on himself to bring the U.K. crime drama to the big screen.

The film, which was initially released in the U.K. in November 2019, follows best friends Timmy and Marco, who attend the same school but live in neighboring London boroughs. After Marco’s beaten up by one of Timmy’s primary school friends, the two young men end up as rivals in a vicious gang war. Rapman — who directed, wrote the screenplay and narrates the film — tells ABC Audio why he felt compelled to wear so many hats.

“The story was so personal to me, and the film meant so much and I wanted the world receive it in in the way I envisioned it,” he says. “So… if it didn’t do well and it didn’t succeed, I could say, ‘Well, at least I tried my best.’ I didn’t want it to leave as just thinking, ‘If only I put in more work there and than I’ve done that.'”

“And so, I knew my best foot forward,” Rapman continues. “And if it does well, they saw me, and if it does bad then it’s on me. But, I wanted to make sure I put everything into it.”

Although Rapman admits the project was a labor of love and “a lot of work,” the U.K. native says he’s extremely thankful for “everything” he got to do on the project.

“I don’t think that there’s ever going to be a movie where I can express myself so much,” he says. “I wrote it, I directed it, I executive produced it, I narrated it. So I loved it.”

Blue Story, starring Stephen Odubola and Micheal Ward, is now available in the U.S. on digital platforms.